DoubleDragon unit Hotel101 Global readies US listing

MANILA, Philippines — Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd., the Singapore-headquartered subsidiary of DoubleDragon Corp., has firmed up its planned listing in the United States through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company JVSPAC Acquisition Corp.

In a statement, Hotel101 Global said it has entered into a binding definitive merger agreement with JVSPAC, with the combined entity to list on the US NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “HBNB.”

Hotel101 Global and affiliates will have an equity value of $2.3 billion, or about P130 billion, following the completion of the merger transaction.

Closing of the transaction is targeted within the second half of the year, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Hotel101 Global will become the first Filipino company to list in the US via a special purpose acquisition company.

JVSPAC is a blank check corporation incorporated for the purpose of executing a business merger. Listed on the NASDAQ, JVSPAC is led by its chairman and CEO Albert Wong, who has over two decades of experience in capital markets.

Hotel101 is a hotel prop-tech operator pioneering a globally standardized, asset-light “condotel” business model.

DoubleDragon, a property developer owned by tycoons Edgar Injap Sia II and Tony Tan Caktiong, sees Hotel101 becoming one of the major brands, concept and business model export of the Philippines.

Its asset-light business model is seen becoming one of the major sources of dollar inflow to the Philippines.

Last month, DoubleDragon broke ground for the construction of a 680-room Hotel101 in Madrid, Spain.

Another 482-room property, Hotel101-Niseko, is under construction in Hokkaido, Japan.

A site has also been secured in Los Angeles, California to build the first Hotel101 in the US.

Hotel101’s long term vision is to have one million rooms, operating in over 100 countries worldwide.

Its first 25 priority countries for expansion include the Philippines, Japan, Spain, US, United Kingdom, UAE, India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France and Saudi Arabia.